


Accommodation

by Broken_Clover



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Autism Spectrum, Autistic Allister, Gen, Milo is a cool big bro, Self-Indulgent, Sensory Overload, Stimming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:47:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27706484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Broken_Clover/pseuds/Broken_Clover
Summary: Allister's a good kid, people just need to be a little more patient with him.(Or, Milo helps Allister during a meltdown)
Relationships: Onion | Allister & Yarrow | Milo
Comments: 5
Kudos: 74





	Accommodation

**Author's Note:**

> This is wickedly self indulgent and I have accepted that. Look I just think cool big bro Milo is criminally underused and I'd like to see more of it.

Milo could tell that things were going south halfway through the ceremony.

They’d done the routine enough times that he knew to glance off over at Allister every so often to make sure the kid was doing alright. He’d seemed alright during the set-up, a little anxious but no moreso than usual. If he’d known that something was going to go wrong beforehand, Milo would have encouraged Allister to sit the event out, or implore the tournament staff to hold off for a few more minutes until he could cool down and steel his nerves. But things had seemed perfectly fine at the time, so he hadn’t though to be too worried.

Allister was a bit of an odd kid, but Milo was close enough to him that he was getting a pretty good understanding on what behaviors were bad-odd and which were just how he was. The swaying, zombie-like gait was totally normal, but the stiff shoulders and twitchy hands were not.

Milo glanced around the stadium, maintaining his friendly smile and offering the occasional wave while the challengers were announced. Nobody else seemed to have noticed anything odd, and he wished he knew if that was good or bad. It did mean that nobody would be starting a scene, but then again, it would also mean that the probability of someone realizing what was going on and any hope of someone intervening and giving Allister a break was small.

Dang it, was nobody paying attention? Did they not care? The kid was practically shivering, even with the harsh heat and light making everyone sweat. Maybe it was good that Allister had his mask. Milo knew how much he hated being seen when he was overloaded, afraid of being seen as weak and pathetic. Milo certainly thought no less of him for it, but for all his optimism, he knew he couldn’t say that everyone would feel the same.

Arceus, it seemed like there were more challengers than ever. Maybe that wasn’t right, Milo had never counted them so intently before. It definitely felt like a lot when he was counting every single one. His attention snapped in between the ceremony and Allister every few seconds, hoping in vain that something would change for the better. Milo usually believed in hard work over miracles, but he needed one right now. Otherwise, he was afraid that millions of people were going to watch Allister have a sensory meltdown on live TV. Milo certainly didn’t care if he managed to look ridiculous doing it, but he was a half-step away from just scooping the darn kid up and carrying him back to the locker rooms so he could cool down. 

At what felt like an impossibly glacial pace, all the new challengers walked up into a long line. Chairman Rose was saying something, but Milo really couldn’t bring himself to focus on that over making sure Allister wasn’t completely losing it. His back-and-forth sway had grown faster and more jerky, snapping head head to either side in a desperate attempt to help him self-regulate. Why wasn’t Bea here instead? Sure, she did most of the introduction ceremonies, but that was specifically because she could handle bright lights and loud noises much better than him. Geez, Allister was _known_ for being quiet and secretive, nobody would have questioned him sitting out another ceremony, so how had this even happened?

...Because Allister wanted to impress people, wanted to prove he could be a good gym leader. Milo knew. He was the youngest of them all, and that meant having to work harder to be seen as an equal, at least in his own perception. Bea, young as she was, still had self-confidence as tempered and tough as her body, but Allister couldn’t escape the idea that he was a tagalong with big shoes to fill. Which meant pushing himself past his limits in order to impress.

Milo was sure that he had to be making a scene now, too, despite his efforts to look subtle. He couldn’t help shifting his weight back and forth and wiping his hands on everything. Maybe it would be better if he did? He could stand a bit of a media scandal, he’d been at the gym leader business long enough to practically be immune to whatever nonsense the tabloid magazines could cook up in order to sell more copies. But, gym leader or not, Allister was still a _kid,_ and as much as he knew stupid rumors were inevitable, Allister of all people didn’t deserve to have something so private become something that everyone could see and mock him for.

What could he even do? Everyone was watching, there really was no way to be subtle. If he tried to move to give Allister some cover, it would just draw more attention. Maybe it would have been best to just go all the way, maybe pick something up and throw it? Fall over on someone? Pretend to faint? He didn’t have much at his disposal, the only thing he had around him were his fellow gym leaders. Doing something like that to Kabu felt like elder abuse, and Nessa would never forgive him for pulling a stupid stunt, but he could handle her holding a grudge for a few weeks (or months) given the circumstances.

“..And of course we all appreciate the love and support that everyone puts into the gym challenge every year! We would be nowhere without the enthusiasm of everyone who takes the time to cheer on our gym challengers! Give yourselves a hand, folks! You’ve earned it!”

Milo felt his heart sink as a thunderous swell of applause echoed across the domed walls. With an aside glance, he watched Allister jerk his head back in pain and clamp hands over his ears. Despite that, a moment later the man almost felt a little twitch in his chest. Rose barely ever changed his speech, and at this point, Milo practically knew it by heart. He knew what was coming next.

“We can’t thank you all enough for coming!” Rose gave another grand gesture from his place on the turf. “This concludes the introductory ceremony. Best of luck to each and every one of our challengers!”

It was over. It was over, it was over, it was over. Thank Arceus.

Even after the ceremonies were officially done, the television cameras still peered down on the stadium like a horde of Mandibuzz. Who knew what they could still see. Milo did his best to put himself in between Allister and the cameras, even though he knew he couldn’t obscure all of them. By that point, Allister barely seemed aware of what was going on around him, probably too stuck in tunnel vision to do much more than keep himself from having a breakdown on the spot.

“Hey!”

Milo flinched as something smacked his arm, but he realized it wasn’t a stranger. He sent an uneasy smile over his shoulder. “Howdy, Raihan.”

“I swear those things get longer every time! Anyway, where you headed next? I was thinking about inviting the crew up to my suite for a little party of our own!”

“Um, I’m a little busy right now, maybe later?” He had other things to worry about at the moment, and while spending time around Raihan was always enjoyable, he couldn’t put that over looking after-

The man blinked in surprise, realizing he couldn’t spot any purple in the group anymore. The path between the stadium and the lobby room they used wasn’t especially long, but within that short timespan he’d lost track of Allister. Where could he have gone?

Milo swallowed hard, reluctantly turning back. “Raihan? You wouldn’t happen to have seen-”

Just his luck, Raihan was already gone, trying to chat up Melony to see if she was more interested. Actually, it looked like everyone was already distracted with something or another, splitting up in various different directions- none of which Allister appeared to be a part of.

Really, nobody seemed to have noticed that Allister had run off at all. Milo simply hoped that it would be the same for him.

++++++

There were really only so many places the kid could have hidden. It hadn’t taken Milo very long to spot a trail of spilled garbage from a bin that had been left knocked over. Most of the time, Alilister was much more careful when sneaking off, but he must have been too desperate to care. The trail of garbage eventually dried up, but Milo then picked up the sound of metallic thumps nearby.

Following the sound of muffled clanging, he found the boy curled up in one of the men’s locker rooms, body shoved into the corner. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the noise was coming from the metal lockers as Allister whacked his head back against them.

“Hey, hey, Alli, don’t do that-” Milo’s voice grew harried, though he knew just as well that saying it out loud wouldn’t accomplish much. He undid the handkerchief around his neck and slid it in between a pair of trembling shoulders, to keep him from bashing his head against the metal and hurting himself. “Can you tell me what you need right now?”

“Mnnn-”

That bad, then. Milo took a breath and stood up. “I’m going to go turn the lights down so they don’t hurt your eyes as much.”

It seemed to have helped, if only a little. He knew Allister could be sensitive to light. His mask’s eye covers helped somewhat, but they couldn’t block things out all the way, or else he wouldn’t be able to tell where he was going. In his current state, though, there wasn’t much concern for him tripping over anything, so Milo didn’t dare try and take his mask off. Arceus knew Allister didn’t need anything else setting him off. All Milo could do was offer support and help him wait it out.

He reached for the discarded pokeballs on the locker room floor. Taking a lucky guess, he pressed the button on one of them. A burst of light shot out, taking on the form of a Gengar.

“Gen…?” The Pokemon itself seemed confused on why it had been let out. When it saw the state its trainer was in, the ghost-type made a distressed squeak.

“Here, Alli, pet Gengar.” Milo nudged the creature with one hand and guided Allister’s hand with his other until the two met. The ghost-type nuzzled its partner, cuddling up close to him so the boy could stroke the short, silky fur of its back.

Allister squeezed his eyes shut behind the mask, rhythmically petting as he droned. Gengar began to purr. They weren’t exactly people’s first choice when it came to support Pokemon, but Gengar did just perfect for him. He was round, fluffy, and remarkably patient when it came to his trainer. Milo had never seen a Gengar like him before, but if he was Allister’s Dynamax partner, then they clearly had a close bond together.

Milo let the Pokemon do its work. He knew from experience that intervening wasn’t always helpful. And Allister didn’t need to be babied or treated like an incompetent. He just needed a little space and patience, which he was happy to provide.

It took a bit of time before anything really changed, but it wasn’t like Milo was going anywhere in a hurry. He was just glad nobody else decided that they needed the locker room. After enough repetition, Allister began to unwind his tightly-coiled body and calm.

“Feeling a little better, kiddo?”

Allister nodded mutely. He held onto a fistful of Gengar fur as it continued purring against him.

This was how it usually went. After a bad time, Allister still needed some time to be quiet, but the worst of it was over for now. At least the festivities were officially over, and the boy’s reputation meant that people rarely if ever expected him to go anywhere near the reporters.

“Too loud for you?”

Another nod. Milo sat down across from him, close enough to be audible but still leaving him plenty of personal space. “Well, you did real good. You got through the whole thing. You should be proud.” He gave the boy a kindly smile. “And it’s okay. Nobody’s upset with you. Y’just need a little bit of accommodation, Alli, that’s nothing to feel bad about.”

Even though he didn’t say anything in reply, he could see the relief in the way Allister slumped. Milo flexed an arm. “And if anyone _did_ think of giving you trouble, I’ll send in the Wooloo!”

The boy gave a soundless laugh. “Aww, there ya are. Wanna come to my house for a bit? Turffield’s right down the road from here, and I figure it’ll be better than the traffic going to Stow-on-Side. We can have some pecha cake with whipped cream, if you’d like. Momma baked a fresh one last night.”

Allister thought for a moment, almost seeming to consult his Pokemon for advice when he turned to look at it. After a few moments of deliberation, Milo got another nod, and Allister moved to shuffle back to his feet, with Gengar’s help.

“There we are, there we go.” The farmer offered a hand of his own. Once he was back on his own two feet, Allister kept his hold, one hand on his and the other in Gengar’s stubby paw. Milo couldn’t help but find it slightly adorable, Allister’s tiny little hand in his big, farm-hardened ones. “Let’s go out the back exit, I’m sure the paparazzi are distracted interviewing the new challengers.”

They probably made for an odd sight, but there was nobody around to comment on it, anyway. And Milo was certain that by the time anyone did notice the two of them had vanished, they would already be halfway to Turffield.


End file.
